on April 20, 2015

The recent slump in fossil fuel prices that allowed me to fill up my tank for $2.19 per gallon on the way into the office has understandably cooled some of the enthusiasm for continued natural gas exploration and development in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations throughout southeastern Ohio.

However, those with property rights to the minerals are well advised to also acquire and maintain the permits necessary to extract the minerals, even if they do not intend to actually extract them in the immediate future. Maintaining the proper permits, even if you do not intend to use them, can still increase the value of the person's or enterprise's assets, and can enable emergency borrowing against those assets that might not be possible if the person or enterprise owns them but cannot legally extract them.